Guilty Pleasures is a term we throw around a lot here—both of us site co-owners, Lee and Linz, have a long list of what some would consider Guilty Pleasures. It seems like we picked the perfect time to join the League of Extraordinary Bloggers, considering our affinity with the subject. The problem is that we both have random “obsessions”—everything is a Guilty Pleasure because we have bad taste, but usually not enough shame to say that it’s a Guilty Pleasure.

We decided we’d write about three of each other’s Guilty Pleasures, what we found to go beyond a casual interest or obsession and border on something to blush about, to give the reader a little insight into our madness.

Linz’s Guilty Pleasures According to Lee

The Nanny

It’s hard to imagine a sitcom with a screechy-voiced lead character lasting six seasons. It’s even harder to imagine one of your friends enjoying such a show. Linz has some pretty strange obsessions, but her love for The Nanny is definitely at the top of the list. If watching The Nanny weren’t such a shameful addiction, I know she would be quoting the show left and right.

The sad truth is… The Nanny is one of my guilty pleasures, too.

Guns N’ Roses

For a band that peaked when we were just learning the alphabet, Linz is pretty into Guns N’ Roses. Personally, I’m not hardcore, but I like the few songs that still make the rounds on the radio now and then. Linz, however, had never listened to them at all prior to 2005. Suddenly, she wouldn’t stop talking about them and placing bets on Chinese Democracy’s release date. She took a sudden obsession to a guilty extreme. One time, I walked in to the middle of her buying the perfect Axl bandana online. Let’s just say, it got a little creepy for a while there!

Jem

I’m not going to lie; I watched Jem every morning before school in first grade. Granted, I didn’t admit that to anyone at the time, but I never thought of it more than something to entertain while I choked down Cookie Crisp. A few years back, I found out Linz was not only a fan of the show but secretly obsessed with it. At first, she just saved a few animated .GIFs, but then it escalated into Halloween costumes and knock-off toys. If you visit her desk, two things will stick out at you: a picture of New Coke and a dot-matrix print out of Jem she’s had on a poster board for twelve years.

Lee’s Guilty Pleasures According to Linz

The Go-Go’s

Overall, Lee’s musical taste is pretty vast and relatively good—at least compared to mine. But, like everyone else, he’s entitled to some guilty pleasures and The Go-Go’s happen to be one of his. What started out as an innocent crush on guitarist Charlotte Caffey and nodding along to some catchy 80s pop tunes when they came on the radio quickly escalated to attending front row Go-Go’s concerts, buying (and wearing) Go-Go’s T-shirts with pink glitter decals, and oh yes, procuring a certain video tape. I can’t say it’s all bad—I did enable this guilty pleasure by allowing a certain eBay seller to mail the tape to my house so Lee wouldn’t end up with feedback on a questionable purchase, after all. Maybe I’m just a really good friend.

The Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog

I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone so enamored with a cartoon series before. I get cartoons, don’t get me wrong, and watch my fair share. But when it gets to the point that you’ve memorized every episode and are now going through each episode frame by frame, you might have a problem.

Goosebumps Books

Reading is good and to our generation the Goosebumps series is classic literature. Lee goes above and beyond with Goosebumps bed sheets (which he swore his mom bought him, but I’m not falling for it), writing songs based on the stories, and even recently painting his living room in a color scheme inspired by one of the books. If he starts wearing a haunted mask around, this friendship is over.

We’re not the only ones with Guilty Pleasures. Check out some of the other League members:

ShezCrafti refuses to apologize for her love of Ace of Base. Also, TIL there are a lot more Ace of Base releases out there in the world than I originally thought.

9 Comments

I was a little too old for Goosebumps, but in middle school I was obsessed with Fear Street. For a time they were the only books I’d check out of the library.
Wait, GNR counts as a guilty pleasure? Maybe NOWadays, if you’re like, that one guy who bought Chinese Democracy, but back then? Noooooooo way! m/

shezcrafti I saw GnR in Youngtown, OH. I was actually VERY suprised at how badass they still are.. even if there are only 3 or so of the remaining members. Axl was awesome!
I recently got into his pre-Fear Street stuff, basically just to satiate my nostalgia.. The covers are really early 90’s looking and the stories are about the same quality.

MisterZeroshezcrafti I saw GnR in 2005– Axl was three hours late. Many fistfights broke out, but once the show did start, it was awesome! Got to cover a Slash concert back in 2010, which was amazing! And everyone was on time, haha!

PopRewind MisterZero shezcraftiI saw GnR in concert back in ~1989 when they were opening for Aerosmith (yes, I’m old). Axl was drunk and late, and they sounded horrible, but they still put on a good show!
(And no, GNR should never be considered a guilty pleasure!)

I love me some R.L. Stine, though I’m more familiar with his other work (Maniac Magazine, G.I. Joe books, etc.) I’m so with you on like 90% of this list. GNR is rad (remember taping Paradise City off of MTV with my boombox and listening to it over and over.) The Go-Gos, also rad. They’re like the cuter hipper Runaways. I’m also a Jem Gir..er…guy….